Pro Motocross’ landmark season includes High Point Raceway
Photos courtesy of MX Sports Pro Motocross
A rider gets big air during motocross racing at High Point Raceway in Mount Morris.
Photos courtesy of MX Sports Pro Motocross
A rider leans into a turn during motocross racing at High Point Raceway.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, the world’s most prestigious off-road motorcycle racing series, embarks on its landmark 50th season in 2022 with a 12-round summer campaign that will visit 10 states, bookended by the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. The fourth stop of the milestone journey will continue with the series’ East Coast debut and one of the sport’s most celebrated traditions, a Father’s Day weekend spectacle from High Point Raceway in Mount Morris.
The 45th running of the High Point National will be held Saturday with an extension of the event’s own decorated legacy woven into the fabric of America motocross.
“After two years of challenges to successfully implement a championship calendar in the midst of a global pandemic, we are incredibly eager for the season that lies ahead this summer. We’ll have an opportunity to properly celebrate the 50th anniversary of this storied championship and pay homage to the individuals and venues who helped elevate American motocross to the forefront of the sport on a global scale,” said Davey Coombs, President of MX Sports Pro Racing.
High Point Raceway made its first appearance on the championship calendar in 1977 and has remained one of Pro Motocross’ most high-profile events. The race was hosted for an unparalleled 43 consecutive years until the pandemic forced its cancellation in 2020, but the High Point National made its welcome return last season and has resumed its decorated role in the sport. Over the past four decades, few tracks have provided a better representation of American motocross than High Point, with its rich soil, undulating natural terrain, multiple elevation changes, and amphitheater-like setting that always brings one of the biggest and most passionate crowds of each season.
Adding to the prestige of the event is its distinction as the “home” race for the championship. Series organizers, MX Sports Pro Racing, are headquartered nearby, in Morgantown, W.Va. Owned and operated by the Coombs family, MX Sports Pro Racing has overseen the championship since 2009 and have facilitated exceptional growth in many aspects of the series, from live attendance to broadcasting and social media. Moreover, the multi-generational Coombs family has also served as the event organizer for the High Point National, where patriarch and motocross event pioneer Dave Coombs, Sr., established a longstanding partnership with the Holbert Family Farm that has brought the world’s most prestigious championship and the fastest racers on the planet to this corner of Pennsylvania for 45 years.
On the track, the 50th anniversary will serve as the most prominent representation of the global influence of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship as a pair of international riders will carry the No. 1 plate in both the 450 Class and 250 Class for the first time. Frenchman Dylan Ferrandis is just the third European rider ever in the 450 Class to serve as reigning champion, while Australian Jett Lawrence enters uncharted territory as the first defending titleholder in the 250 Class from Down Under.